The new economic context has brought new challenges to the supply chain and has increased the complexity of its processes. The digitalization; as one of these challenges, is a rapidly evolving paradigm that transforms supply chains by integrating data and communication technologies to optimize operations, enhance sustainability, and improve overall performance. Digital twin technology emerged as one of the most promising digital tools that offer an innovative approach to supply chain management. However, the adoption of digital twins in the supply chain is still in its early stages. Previous research papers presented limited overviews of the applications of digital twin technology in supply chain systems that need to be extended, as it is inevitably a work in progress. In this matter, we conducted a systematic literature review built upon 31 articles to determine the applications of supply chain digital twins (SCDT). This study is divided into three core themes; the first is a comprehensive review of the paradigm of digital supply chain with a focus on digital twin technology and its primary features. The second theme presents an analysis of the 31 papers where we explore the different purposes of SCDTs and their integration. in the third theme by using VOSviewer to conduct a network analysis. We aim; through this paper, to contribute significantly to the supply chain management field by summarizing and analyzing existing research and developments in the applications of digital twins in the different areas of supply chains.

In this manuscript, the mean of the study and the auxiliary variable, as well as the rank of the auxiliary variable, were needed to develop a new, improved ratio-in-regression type estimator for population mean. Up to the first order of approximation, expressions for the bias and mean square error of the existing and proposed estimators are computed. The effectiveness and stability of our new, enhanced estimator are evaluated using simulation and two actual data sets. The suggested estimator's superior performance to all other considered estimators is shown both conceptually and numerically. The mean square error is the lowest, and PREs out-performs other known estimators by a factor of more than one hundred. Overall, we draw the conclusion that the suggested new improved estimator outperforms all its predecessors.

This document presents a simulation-based method for the polyhedra packing problem (PPP). This problem refers to packing a set of irregular polyhedra (convex and concave) into a cuboid with the objective of minimizing the cuboid’s volume, considering non-overlapping and containment constraints. The PPP has applications in additive manufacturing and packing situations where volume is at a premium. The proposed approach uses Unity® as the simulation environment and considers nine intensification and two diversification movements. The intensification movements induce the items within the cuboid to form packing patterns allowing the cuboid to decrease its size with the help of gravity-like accelerations. On the other hand, the diversification movements are classic transition operators such as removal and filling of pieces and enlargement of the container, which allow searching on different solution neighborhoods. All simulated movements were hybridized with a probabilistic tabu search. The proposed methodology (with and without the hybridization) was compared by benchmarking with all previous works solving the PPP with irregular items. Results show that satisfactory solutions were reached in a short time; even a few published results were improved.

Maximising the patient flows throughout the emergency care patient pathway is one of the most important objectives in the healthcare system. The emergency department (ED) is the critical point of this pathway in most hospitals, as the potential delays reduce the number of patients seen in the recommended time. One of the key delays in the ED is the waiting time of a patient prior to treatment, which can be reduced by optimising the patient treatment schedules with priorities. In this paper, a novel blocking patient flow (BPF) algorithm is developed and tested using the real data from a hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Initially, a simulation model of real-life ED operations is developed by characterising patient interarrival and treatment times according to different disease categories. Subsequently, a BPF heuristic algorithm is designed and benchmarked via computational experiments using two dominance rules: first come first served (FCFS) and shortest processing time (SPT). The computational results show that the proposed approach leads to a reduction of the total waiting time by more than 8 % in comparison to the current hospital practice, which implies that more patients will be served in a specified time window.

Workload control theory seeks to align capacity and demand to improve delivery performance. However, workload control researchers mainly focused on input control, which regulates the input of work to the production system, thereby neglecting output control, which uses capacity adjustments to regulate the outflow of the work. Moreover, few existing studies on output control investigate a temporarily increase in capacity. This paper introduces a new search direction for output control which does not require an increase in capacity – labour flexibility. Idle operators can move from their workstation to another, thus temporarily increasing the output of that workstation without extra capacity. Using simulation of a five workstations flow shop line, we highlight the positive performance effect of labour flexibility. However, this comes at the cost of high labour movement. Introducing a load-based constraint on when workers are allowed to significantly reduces labour movement, while realizing most of the performance improvement observed for unconstrained labour movement. This has important implications for future research and practice.

Most job shops in practice are constrained by both machine and labor availability. Worker assignment in these so-called Dual Resource Constrained (DRC) job shops is typically solved in the literature via the use of meta-heuristics, i.e. “when” and “where” rules, or heuristic assignment rules. While the former does not necessarily lead to optimal results, the latter suffers from high computational time and complexity, especially when there is a large number of workstations. This paper uses game theory to propose a new worker assignment rule for DRC job shops. The Gale-Shapley model (also known as the stable marriage problem) forms a ‘couple’ made up of a worker and machine following a periodic review strategy. Simulation is used to evaluate and compare the proposed model to “when” and “where” rules previously proposed in the literature. Simulation experiments under different conditions demonstrate that the Gale-Shapley model provides better results for worker assignments in complex DRC systems, particularly when the workers have different efficiency levels. The implications of the findings for research and practice are outlined.

Nowadays, companies are recognizing their primordial roles and responsibilities towards the protection of the environment and save the natural resources. They are focusing on some contemporary activities such as Reverse Logistics which is economically and environmentally viable. However, the integration of such an initiative needs flows restructuring and supply chain management in order to increase sustainability and maximize profits. Under this background, this paper addresses an inventory control model for a reverse logistics system that deals with two separated types of demand, for new products and remanufactured products, with different selling prices. The model consists of a single shared machine between production and remanufacturing operations, while the machine is subject to random failures and repairs. Three stock points respectively for returns, new products and remanufactured products are investigated. Meanwhile, in this paper, a modeling of the problem with Discrete-Event simulation using Arena® was conducted. Regarding the purpose of finding, a near-optimal inventory control policy that minimizes the total cost, an optimization of the model based on Tabu Search and Genetic Algorithms was established. Computational examples and sensitivity analysis were performed in order to compare the results and the robustness of each proposed algorithm. Then the results of the two methods were compared with those of OptQuest® optimization tool.

The processing time of the machine is assumed fixed in several studies. In many real industrial applications, the processing time is affected by learning and forgetting effects. This research proposes a scheduling approach to support a manufacturing system under learning/forgetting effect. The approach is supported by a Multi-Agent System to perform the scheduling activities in a quasi-real-time and in general manufacturing systems. A simulation environment is developed to test the proposed approach and the results are compared with a benchmark model for evaluating several performance measures of the manufacturing system. The simulation results highlight how the proposed approach improves all the performance measures under different conditions of inter-arrival time, learning and forgetting rates. A complete Analysis of the Variance highlights the main effects on the performance measures to support the decision maker of the manufacturing system.

With increase in differentiation and decreasing batch size of products, feeding the assembly line at regular intervals is considered to be a critical problem in today’s manufacturing sector. Yet no clear solution has been developed for this problem; therefore, the main focus of this research is to discuss the different aspects of line feeding, the latest trend in literature, and to propose an innovative method to support solving the problem. A discrete event simulation model is developed and a mathematical model based on particle swarm optimization is used to support the simulation. The hybrid model is finally applied to practical situations. Results show how different settings of kanban influence the performance of the assembly line feeding system. The biggest novelty item is certainly the recognition of the trade-off between kanban size and number of kanban and the importance of investigating its behaviour during the design of the system.

Research on shallot planting feeding technology is an integral part of the shallot planter associations in which determines the suitable drop of shallot seeds to the planting mechanism. The shape of shallot seed will affect the process of selecting the feeding mechanism and feeding funnel shape. The dynamics study of shallot seeds in the feeding funnel and their movement (that is dependent on the profile and mass property of seeds) is important for manufacturing and running a good mechanism. The shallots will then be transferred by the feeding mechanism to the planting mechanism with a suitable falling trajectory. In this research, design and calculation of dynamics of the feeding mechanism of the shallot seeds is investigated using dynamics equations and also Autodesk Inventor Professional and Matlab Simulink codes. The suitable ranges of feeding mechanism parameters are obtained for the analyzed shallot seeds in terms of the specific shape, weight and mass center coordinates of the seeds.